Obituaries

Marcus Dean 'L.C.' Pilgrim (08/03/05)
Marcus Dean "L.C." Pilgrim, 78, of Lepanto died Monday, July 25, at his home. Born at Oil Trough, he was a retired construction worker and Army veteran. He was a member of Etowah Pentecostal Church of God. Survivors include his wife, Betty Pilgrim of Lepanto; three daughters: Brenda Kay Shinall of Trumann, Teresa Gail Gosa of Lake City and Marcia Denette Holiman of Lepanto; three sons: Russell Dean "Rusty" Pilgrim of West Plains, Mo., and Kevin Eugene Pilgrim and Christopher Wade "Bubba" Pilgrim, both of Lepanto; one sister: Linda Bezzard of Caraway; two brothers, Howard Pilgrim of Birmingham, Ala., and Bob Pilgrim of Lepanto; 12 grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.. ...

Millis Edwin Price (08/03/05)
Millis Edwin Price, 61, of Earle died Saturday, July 30, at his home. Born at Mountain View, he was a truck driver. Survivors include his wife, Glenda Gayle Price of Earle; a son, Millis Allen Price of Earl; a sister, Betty Dishaw of Alaska; and four grandchildren...

Mary Evelyn Sparks (08/03/05)
Mary Evelyn Sparks, 78, of Parkin died Saturday, July 30, at her home. Born at Springfield, Ohio, she was a nurse's aid and was of the Pentecostal faith. Survivors include six daughters: Cindy Edwards of Parkin, Ella Mae Taylor of Georgia, Nancy Smith of Wiona, Barbara Cantwell and Reatha Sparks, both of Marked Tree, and Debra Clayton of Harrisburg; seven sons: Larry Tesch of Kansas, James Butcher Jr. ...

Hershel Kennith Long (08/10/05)
Hershel Kennith Long, 61, of Lepanto died Thursday, Aug. 4, at St. Bernard's Medical Center. Born in Lepanto, Long was a national guard veteran, a maintenance worker at Delta Vo-tech school and of the Baptist faith. Survivors include two daughters: Stacy Dumser of Abita Springs, La., and Laura Cockrell of Hardy; a son: Tim Long of Jonesboro; his father and stepmother, Ford and Pat Long of Lepanto; his mother: Ruby Lewis of Lepanto; a sister: Sandra Walling of Lepanto; a brother: Billy Lewis of Lepanto; three stepsisters: Susie Truelove of Lepanto, Bea Dollar of Marmaduke and Rhonda Williamson of Trumann; and five grandchildren.. ...

Millis Edwin "Ed" Price (08/10/05)
Millis Edwin "Ed" Price, 61, or Earle died July 30 at his home after a long illness. He was a retired truck driver of the Baptist faith. Survivors include his wife, Gayle Price of Earle; a son, Millis Allen Price of Earle; one sister, Bettye McAlister of Alaska; and four grandchildren...

Earnest Vandiver Billy McCorkle (08/10/05)
Earnest Vandiver Billy McCorkle, 44, of Trumann died Saturday, July 30, at his home. Born in Harrisburg, he was a factory worker and of the Baptist faith. Survivors include his wife: Tammy McCorkle of Trumann; a daughter: Tabitha Abbott of Hoxie; two sons: Billy McCorkle and Joshua McCorkle, both of Trumann; his mother: Dorothy Thurmond of Trumann; a sister: Lisa Payne of Trumann; three brothers: Ray McCorkle of Trumann, Harold McCorkle of Fort McCoy, Fla., and Michael McCorkle of Hickory Ridge; and two grandchildren, Spencer McCorkle and Kalueb McCorkle.. ...

Glenda Frances Walley (08/10/05)
Glenda Frances Walley, 59, of Wilson died Saturday, Aug. 6, at her home. Born at Osceola, she was a homemaker and of the Baptist faith. Survivors include two daughters: Michelle Stovall of Lepanto and Hope Ruple of Wilson; six sisters: Joyce McLaughlin and Norma Phillips, both of Dyess, Darlene Carr of Fort Smith, Kay Nichols and Judy Walls, both of West Memphis, and Vickie Turner of Horn Lake, Miss.; eight brothers: David Ruthesell of Creson, Texas, Ronnie Ruthesell of Alvord, Texas, William Robertson of Luxora, Larry Young of Tremont, Miss., Gary Robertson of Southaven, Miss., Ricky Robertson of Marion, Leon Robertson of West Memphis and Stanley Robertson of Lepanto; and five grandchildren: Steven Stovall II and Tyler Stovall of Lepanto, and Donald Ruple Jr., Chad Ruple and Destiny Ruple, all of Wilson.. ...

John William Wood (08/25/05)
John William Wood, 55, of Marked Tree died Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis. Born at Jonesboro, he was an Army veteran, a truck driver and affiliated with the Church of God. Survivors include his wife, Rita Wood of Marked Tree; two daughters: Christie Hardin and Amanda Lansdale, both of Marked Tree; a son, Leonard Wood of Marked Tree; his stepfather and mother, Earnest and Pearl Chase of Marked Tree; three sisters: Bonnie Killebrew of Mountain View, Diane Rogers of Longview, Texas, and Debra Thomas of Marked Tree; a brother, Garth Chase of Marked Tree; and seven grandchildren: Dylan Wood, Candance Milton, Michael Hardin, Courtney Hardin, Kimberly Hardin, John Miller and Christopher Wood.. ...

Stanley Harold Gibbs (08/25/05)
Stanley Harold Gibbs, 55, of Marked Tree died Monday, Aug. 15, at St. Bernard's Medical Center. Survivors include three sisters: Mauvene Yarbrough and Iris Jean Cox, both of Marianna, and Marie Marshall of Marked Tree; and two brothers, Lawrence Gibbs of Tyronza and Archie Gibbs of Lepanto...

Mary Lucille Kimble (08/25/05)
Mary Lucille Kimble, 73, of Manila, died Tuesday, Aug. 16, in St. Bernard's Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born at Etowah, she was a housewife and attended Assembly of God in Lepanto. Survivors include two daughters: Brenda Brown of Lepanto and Janice Carruth of Manila; a brother: Thurmon Jones of Indianapolis; seven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren...

Ruth L.V. Pelts (08/25/05)
Ruth L.V. Pelts, 97, Of Tyronza died Friday, Aug. 19 at Booneville Community Hospital in Booneville. She was a homemaker and a member of the Living Water Pentecostal Church in Tyronza. She was preceded in death by her husband, Oakley Pelts; her parents, Mariah Julian Farmer and George Farmer...

Jess Murray, Sr. (08/25/05)
Jess Murray Sr., 85, of Harrisburg died Sunday, Aug. 21 at his home. A lifetime resident of Harrisburg, he was the son of the late Mark Murray and Nellie Reynolds Murray. He owned and operated Murray's Barber Shop since 1956. Murray was a Poinsett County Veterans Service Officer for 31 years and assisted many families with their V.A. benefits. He was a U.S. Army veteran, having served in World War II and Korea. He was a prisoner of war (POW) in WWII...

Imogene Russell Wilmoth (08/25/05)
Imogene Russell Wilmoth, 80, of Lepanto died Thursday, Aug. 18, at her residence. She was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta at Arkansas State University, the Retired Teachers Association, the Lepanto Garden Club and Lepanto First Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her parents, Robert and Olyx Hamilton and one brother...

Peggy Ruth Bankston (08/25/05)
Peggy Ruth Bankston, 64, of Marked Tree died Tuesday, Aug. 16, at her residence. Born at Memphis, she was a public accountant and a member of First Baptist Church of Marked Tree, where she was a Sunday school teacher and an organist. She was also a member of Marked Tree Chamber of Commerce and was a Rotarian...

Bettye Jean Weems Hill (08/31/05)
Bettye Jean Weems Hill, 77, died Tuesday, Aug. 23. Born in Lepanto on March 21, 1928, Hill was the daughter of Mary Symantha and Oscar Weems of Lepanto. They preceded her in death. After graduating from Lepanto High School, Hill attended Southwestern University in Memphis, Tenn. for one year and attended Abilene Christian College in Abilene, Texas for two years...

LaVerne G. Smith (08/31/05)
LaVerne G. Smith, 78, of Marked Tree died Wednesday, Aug. 24 at Saint Bernard Hospital in Jonesboro. Smith was born on May 3, 1927 in Good Hope, Miss., to parents Jim Gibbs and Henrietta Smith Gibbs. Formerly of Clarksdale, Miss., she was a retired school teacher for Clarksdale Baptist Church...

Virginia Louise Plunk (08/31/05)
Virginia Louise Plunk, 76, of Marked Tree died Friday, Aug. 26. Born in Black Oak on Feb. 2, 1929, Plunk was a retired factory worker and affiliated with the Church of God. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jacob Thomas Plunk; her mother, Nola; and her father, Jessee Penter...

Larry Thomas Ray (08/31/05)
Larry Thomas Ray, 54, of Mountain View died Sunday, Aug. 28. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas Dewey Ray and Anna Lou Ray; two brothers: Ronald Ray and Michael Ray; and a grandson, Weylon Baker. Survivors include his wife, Ann Parrish Ray; two sons: Johnny Baker and wife Amy of Mountain View and David Ray and wife Crystal of Pleasant Grove; two daughters: Valerie Brown and husband Kevin and Beckie Ray, all of Mountain View; two brothers: Richey Ray of Salem and Jerry Ray of Milan, Tenn.; one sister: Linda Stidem of Martin, Tenn.; two sisters: Linda Stidem of Martin, Tenn. ...

Retired corner dies at 71 (08/31/05)
Paul Spurgeon "Sonny" Thompson, III, 71, of Jonesboro died Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 at NEA Medical Center in Jonesboro of natural causes. He was born in Jonesboro and had lived most his life in Trumann before moving to Jonesboro six years ago. Thompson was a funeral director and embalmer for over 50 years for the family owned Thompson Funeral Home in Trumann, was retired Poinsett County Coroner after 36 years of service, member of the Arkansas Funeral Directors Association, past president of the Northeast Arkansas Funeral Directors Association, past president of the Memorial Insurance Company of America, veteran of the US Army having served in the Korean War, past president of the Trumann Lions Club, retired member of the Trumann Volunteer Fire Department and member of the First Baptist Church in Trumann.. ...